A Revision of Struthio asiaticus, from the Siwaliks of India (1 Viewer)

[Fred Ruhe]

Eric Buffetaut, 2022

The First-Named Fossil Ostrich: A Revision of Struthio asiaticus, from the Siwaliks of India

Diversity. 14 (10). 860.
doi:10.3390/d14100860

Abstract and free pdf: file:///C:/Users/Fred/Downloads/diversity-14-00860.pdf

The first fossil ostrich to have been named, by Milne-Edwards in 1869–1871, was Struthio asiaticus, a taxon based on a specimen collected by Colonel Colvin in the Siwaliks of India, consisting of associated postcranial elements (vertebrae, forelimb elements, a fragmentary tarsometatarsus and first phalanx of the third toe). Although it was described as least twice in some detail in the 19th century, the specimen has since then been interpreted in conflicting ways. A revision of the type material and its history shows that it came in all likelihood from the Siwaliks of present-day India, not Pakistan. The exact locality is unknown and the stratigraphic position of the specimen is uncertain (the frequent attribution to the Dhok Pathan Formation is not based on solid evidence). Contrary to what has sometimes been claimed, Struthio asiaticus was neither a small nor an especilly large ostrich. It was apparently comparable in size with the modern S. camelus, but had slightly more robust cervical vertebrae and carpal bones. It seems to have been relatively short-toed. Because of the incompleteness of the material and uncertainties about its geological age, it is difficult to assess the place of Struthio asiaticus in the evolutionary history of the ostriches. Reports of Struthio asiaticus from Africa and north-eastern Asia are based on misinterpretations and should be discarded.

Enjoy,

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Systematic Palaeontology

Aves Linnaeus, 1758
Palaeognathae Pycraft, 1900
Struthionidae Vigors, 1825

Genus Struthio Linnaeus, 1758

Struthio asiaticus Milne-Edwards, 1869–1871

Type specimen: NHMUK PV OR 23105, a group of bones comprising the distal end of a left tarsometatarsus with the articulated proximal end of the first phalanx of the third toe, twelve partly articulated cervical vertebrae and poorly preserved bones of the forelimb.

Locus typicus: Siwalik hills of northern India...

Stratum typicum: uncertain, probably Neogene.

Diagnosis: a species of Struthio similar in size to Struthio camelus but differing from the living species by the greater robustness of its cervical vertebrae and apparently by shorter toes.

Fred


Figure 1. Type specimen of Struthio asiaticus Milne-Edwards, 1869–1871, NHMUK PV OR 23105, with the tarsometatarsus and phalanx in cranial view, showing the series of cervical vertebrae. Specimen collected by J. Colvin, presented to the British Museum in 1842; cv: cervical vertebrae; p:
first phalanx of third toe; tmt: tarsometatarsus; t3: trochlea for third toe; t4: trochlea for fourth toe.